ABSTRACT
Cardiac contractility modulation in patients with heart failure refractory to drug treatment aims to strengthen myocardial activity through transmission of nonexcitatory impulses to the heart. The present study reviewed a total of 251 patients from four studies; the results, however, showed a low level of evidence. Crossover analysis showed a strong placebo effect for patients with implants that were switched on after three months. The technology is still in the development stage and further studies are needed.
ABSTRACT
Economic evaluation of healthcare programmes helps us to assure the efficient use of healthcare resources. Cost-minimisation analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and cost-benefit analysis are the most commonly applied evaluation types. They differ in how they measure outcomes of healthcare interventions. Several guidelines for conducting economic evaluations exist. Furthermore, checklists have been developed for systematic critical appraisal of economic evaluations. Even though economic evaluations increase the transparency of resource allocation decisions and make decision criteria more explicit, they do not replace public discussions on the availability of overall resources for the public health care system.
